Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WALKING BEAM FURNACE
This invention relates to a walking beam furnace
for heating workpieces while advanced through the furnace
by walking beam assemblies having a body of refractory and
a cooling system including pipes at opposite lateral sides
of the body of refractory below the workpiece-engaging face
thereof, More particularly, the present invention relates
to an improved construction and relationship of parts to
support and cool a body of refractory material withou~ rupture
or failure to the integrity of the cooling system.
It is well known in the art to reheat ingots~ blooms,
slabs, billets and similar workpieces in a walking beam type
furnace for subsequent processing in a rolling mill. The
workpieces are delivered in succession by a suitable conveyor
system into the chamber of the furnace havlng burners arranged
to heat each workpiece up to a desired temperature before it
is discharged onto a furnace-delivery table. The workpîeces
are advanced in ~he furnace chamber with step-by-step movements
by walking beam assemblies that form stationary and movabLe
supports for the workpieces. The movable supports first lift
the workpieces from the stationary supports and then advance
by movement toward the exit end of ~he furnace through a
predetermined distance. The movable supports are then
lowered to deposit the workpieces on the stationary members
for support thereby. The movable supports are then retracted
while spaced below the bottom surface of the workpieces to a
starting position for a succeeding cycle to lifL and advance
the workpieces. Usually, two or more li~tin~ beam assemblies
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extend in the direction of the length of the furnace chamber
along the lateral sides of the stationary support to col-
~lectively form the walking beam assemblies. Heat insulating
material, such as refractory, is usually provided in the
furnace on the various surfaces along the hearth that contact
and support the workpieces during movement within the furnace
chamberO Such material is used to at least minimize~ if not
eliminate, the development of cold spots in the workpieces at
the points of contact with the supporting surface of the
walking beam assemblies. The heat insulating material,
usually compxised of high-temperature refractory~ must include
a support having coolant facilities to restrain movement and
prevent overheating.
In the past, a water-cooled channel was used to
retain the hearth refractory and support the load imposed on
the refractory by the workpieces as shown, for example, in
U.S. Patent No. 3,450,394. The water-cooled channel is
comprised of a carbon steel weldment consisting of a plate
section welded along its side edges to the end flanges of
a channel section. The hollow area thus formed in the channel
with the end plate is coupled ~o water-supply and discharge
pipes. The opposite ends of the weldment are closed by
end plates that are welded in place. The water-cooled
channel is arranged on the support for the refractory such
that the elongated enclosed water channel is orientated
vertically on the refractory support and embedded in the 9 ide
edge of the refractory. An L-shaped clip, in cross section,
made of alloy material has one leg section welded to the top
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edge of the water-cooled channel such that the free leg
section of the clip extends vertically along the outer side
edge of the refractory for support of the refractory as well
as cooling by conductive heat transfer.
The water-cooled channel and support-clip arrange-
ment have been plagued with problems. Water leaks occur at
weld failures due to differential cooling to the weldment
forming the coolant channel. The leakage of coolant water
cannot be tolerated in a furnace of this ~ype for heating
workpieces. Moreover, the upstanding leg of the alloy clip
that extends along the side edge of the refractory curls
outwardly away from the refractory because of differential
heating/cooling, thus rendering it useless for its intended
use for support of the refractory. Moreover, welding of
the alloy clip to the carbon steel forming the water-cooled
channel is a difficult undertaking because of the need to
weld widely different m~tals. It is absolutely essential
that the workpieces undergo heating in the furnace without
-any contac~ with the water-cooled channel and the refractory
support clip which are cooled by conductive heat transfer.
It has been found that the thermal stresses which develop
in the weldment are a predominant cause leading to weld
failures that permit water to leak from the coolant channel.
It has also been found that sharp edges and corners in the
known cooling channel arrangement promote scale and dirt
accumulations that adversely affect the operation oE the
walking beams. In partlcular, the outward curling of the
clip provides an open cavîty in~o which scale can accumulate
and possibly even extend up along the refractory into heat
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conductive transfer with a workpiece which, of course, cannot
be tolerated. The necessary support for the refractory is
reduced or ineffective when its clip curls outwardly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide
an improved construction and arrangement of parts for a
walking beam assembly including the provision of a more
efficient and trouble-free cooling system for a body of
refractory forming part of the assemblies to engage a work-
piece while undergoing hea~ing in a walking beam furnace.
It is a further object of the present invention to
provide an improved coolant system for a walking beam
assembly ln a walking beam furnace wherein an upper run of
water-cooled seamless tubing is welded to a spacer plate
which is, in turn, welded to a lower run of water-cooled
seamless tubing in a manner such that the integrity of the
coolant tubing is not compromised by welding, particularly
by the need to use weld metal to form any part of the water-
containment chamber.
It is a further object of the present invention
to provide in a furIIace to heat workpieces, an improved
walking beam assembly having workpieces engaging a body of
refractory supported by water-cooled assemblies that include
clip members attached to a water-cooled arrangement of seam-
less tubing for conductive heat transfer to bring abou~ the
thermal stability to the clip while extending along the
side edge of the body of refractory material.
More particularly, according to the present
invention there is provided in a walkin~ beam furnace having
walls forming a passageway for workpieces of the type wherein
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the hearth includes stationary and movable walking beam
assemblies to support and advance the workpieces along the
passageway, the combination wherein the walking beam assemblies
include a body of refractory having a workpiece-engaging face,
a support to carry the body of refractory, upper and lower runs
of coolant pipes, means to join together the upper and lower
runs of coolant pipes at each of the opposite lateral sides of
the body of refractory below the workpiece-engaging face
thereof, and clip means carried below the upper run of the
coolant pipes to extend upwardly to a point spaced below the
workpiece-engaging face of the body of refractory for cooling
and lateral support thereof.
Such walking beam assemblies preferably include
attachment members connected to the lower run of the coolant
pipe for anchoring to the support used to carry the body of
refractory. Upstanding gusset plates are arranged at spaced-
apart locations along at least the lower run of the coolant
pipe to extend into the body of refractory and web plates
are welded to ~he walls of the upper and lower runs of the
coolant pipe for support thereof. It i5 preferred to employ
a threaded fastener to adjoin the aforesaid web plate means
to the clip members which preferably take the form of metal
castings. The movable walking beam assembly preferably
includes a refractory carrier in the form of channel sections
that are orientated so that the toes extend downwardly and
the webs of one channel section engage the webs of abutting
channel sections. The channels extend transversely to the
length of the body of refractory for support therefor with
a corrugated-like undersurface having improved cooling
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characteristics.
These features and advantages of thc present
invention as well as others will be more fully understood
when the following description of the preferred embodiment
is read in light of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section throu~h a walking
beam furnace for heating workpieces incident to a rolling
operation and having walking beam assemblies embodying the
features of the present invention;
Flg. 2 is an elevational view~ in section, of the
walking beam assemblies incorporating the features of the
present invention; and
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III
of Fig, 2.
In Fig. 1, reference numer,al 10 identifies a
furnace of one general type which is suitable for heating
workpieces such as slabs for a subsequent rollin~ operation.
It is to be understood, however, that walking beam assemblies
embodying the features o the present invention can be employed
wi~h equal success to advance workpieces along the heating
chamber of a furnace embodying any one of a number of different
construction characteristics. The furnace 10 in Fig. 1
includes a roof 11 having burners spaced therealong to deliver
media for combustion into a furnace chamber 12 that com-
municates with a waste-gas flue 13 at the entry end of the
Eurnace where a door 14 is open for the entrance oE workpieces.
The workpieces are delivered to the furnace by a conveyor, not
shown. The furnace chamber 12 is enclosed by side walls 15
(only one shown) that extend to the discharge end where a
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downwardly-inclined chute 16 supports a workpiece while
discharged from the furnace through a door 17 forming a
closure for an opening in an end wall 18. A delivery table
19 transports the heated workpiece to a rolling mill for
processing therein.
A hearth 21 includes walking beam assemblies to
support and advance workpieces along the furnace chamber 12.
The walking beam assemblies comprise at least two stationary
assemblies 22 and one or more movable assemblies 23 with the
latter being generally narrower and extending along withLn a
space provided between two stationary assemblies. Usually,
at least two movable and two stationary assemblies are
provided in a furnace. When the distance between ~he side
walls of the furnace is relatively 3.arge as is the case when
reheating long slabs, three, four or more movable walking beam
assemblies are required to adequately suppor~ and advance the
slabs in the furnace.
An operating mechanism is provided for each movable
walking beam assembly to lift, advance, lower and retract the
assemblies which occur in unison relative to the stationary
assemblies. Any one of numerous well-known forms of operating
mechanism may be used for this purpose~ In Fig. 1, one
operating mechanism is shown schematically and comprises
spaced~apart bell-crank arms 24~ each carrying a roller 25
to engage a support beam 26 forming part of the movable walking
beam assembly 23, as will be described ln greater detail herein-
after. The crank arms are moun~ed ~or pivotal movement by
bearing block supports at the underside of beam 26. The
lower ends of the crank arms 25 are secured by pivot pins to
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an actuating rod 27 arranged in a generally parallel relationwith the movable walking beam assembly 23 and substantially
the entire length thereof. An actuator 28, preferably in ~he
form of a piston and cylinder assernbly, is coupled to the
actuating rod 27 to pivot the crank arms in unison so that the
rollers e~ert a force on the walkin~ beam assembly sufficient
to lift the workpieces supported thereon through a vertical
distance where they extend above the workpiece-support surface
of a stationary walking beam. An actuator 29, preferably in
the form of a piston and cylinder assembly is coupled by a
bracket ~o the support beam 26 to reciprocate the walking beam
assembly 23 in the direction of its leng~h. Workpieces are
advanced in a step-by-step manner a:lon~ the hearth in the
heating furnace first by the operation of actuator 28 which
~orms a lifting cylinder to raise the movable walking beam
assembly and the workpieces supported thereon above the
stationary assemblies 22. Actuator 29 is then operated to
advance the movable walking beam assembly in the direction of
its length and carry with it the workpieces supported thereby.
At the end oi ~his advancing movement, the actuator 28 ;s
again operated to lower the lifting beam and the wor~piece
supported thereby into contac~ wi~h the stationary members 22.
After the lifting beam is lowered below the bottom surface of
the workpieces, actuator 29 is operated to retract the movable
assembly to a position where it is again lifted into suppor-
ting contact with a workpiece for a succeedlng cycle of
advancing movement.
As shown in Figs. 2 and 3~ the preferred form of
construction for the walkin~ beam assemblies 22 and 23 is
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shown. Turning, first, to the movable walking beam assembly
23, the support beam 26 actually takes the form of two beam
members arranged in a spaced-apart and parallel-relation and
held in place by a bottom plate 31 that forms a wear plate
to engage the rollers of the lifting mechanism previously
described. The beams 26 which extend along the length of the
lifting beam assembly carry a bed comprised of channel
members 32 arranged transversely to the extended length of
the beams. The toes of the channels are attached by welds
to the beams 26. Thus, the channels 3~ of the bed are arranged
side-by-side with the flanges at each side of one channel
abutting with one flange o each of the adjacent channels.
The corrugated-like undersurface of the bed promotes improved
air-cooling. The bed carries a body of high-temperature
refractory material 33 that is rammed or cast in place after
the side supports and coolant facilities are installed on the
bed, The top surace 34 of the body of refractory forms a
workpiece-engaging surface ~hat remains essentially free fro~
contact with any metallic structure, particularly all water-
cooled support structures, to eliminate the possible develop-
ment of cold spots in the workpiece during heating in the
furnace.
To prevent overheating and provide lateral suppor~
for the body of refractory, the present invention provides a
novel arrangement o coolant pipes extending along each of
the lower lateraL sides of the body of refractory. There is
actually a succession of similarly-constructed coolant systems
arranged end-to-end along the entire length o the movable
walking beam. Each coolant system includes a length of
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tubing, preferably comprised of seamless steel, that is bentto form an upper run 35 connected by vertical end portions 36
to a lower run 37. The lower run is not continuous along its
length, but has blocking end caps attached to closely-spaced
terminal ends of the tubing ~o prevent escapement of the coolant
medium which is preferably water. Feed and delivexy pipes 39 fo
the coolant are attached by weld metal to the side wall of the
pipes at points closely adjacent the terminal ends of the tubing
forming the lower run. This arrangement of parts is best shown
in Fig. 3. The upper and lower runs of the coolant pipe are hel
in spaced-apart relation by vertical arrangement of web plates
38. These web plates are welded along their opposite longitudin~
sides to the runs of the coolant pipes with the ends of the
adjacent web plates being spaced apart to form a gap there-
between. A plurality of support bracket assemblies 40 is
positioned at spaced-apart locations along the coolant pipe
for attached support to the bed of channel members 32. Each
support bracket assemly includes an upstanding gusset plate
41 joined with a base plate 42 that includes a projected edge
por~io~ upon which the lower run of the coolant pipe is
supported and attached there~o by weld metal. The gusset
plate 41 has a curved lower portion conforming to the outer
wall configuration of the lower run of the coolant pipe and
a vertical edge to extend along a web p~ate. The base plate
42 is attached by threaded fasteners 43 to a channel member
32. The web plates 38 carry a plurality of side-by-side,
U-shaped clips 44 that are preferably made of a cast alloy
metal. Cne leg of each clip is attached by threaded ~asteners
~S to the web plate. The midportion of each clip has a body
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section that conforms to the outer peripheral shape of the
upper run of the coolant pipe. As shown in Fig. 2, the clip
wraps about the outer peripheral surface of the pipe so that
a leg 46 projects upwardly to a point which is spaced by a
distance of at least several inches below the workpiece-
engaging face of the refractory~ As shown in Fig. 3, ~he
clip members are arranged in a generally side-by-side relation
to form a succession of these plates that e~tends along the
upper run of the coolant pipe. The feed and delivery pipes
39 for coolant, as shown in Fig. 2, extend toward the central
portion of the support bed where a 90 bend directs the
remaining length of pipe through openings in the support bed
downwardly through the gap between the support beams 26 and
thence through openings provided in plate 31. The terminal
end portions of the feed and delivery pipes are joined with
suitable conduits extending to water-supply and drain pipes.
Turning, now, to the stationary support beam 22,
it can be seen ~hat essentially the same construction and
arrangement of parts are employed to form the support and
coolant structure for the body of refrac~ory material 50.
The body of refractory material 50 differs from the body of
refractory 33 only by the fact that the width of the body
50 is substantially greater than the width of body 33. More-
over, the support bracket assemblles 40 are attached by
fasteners 43 that are passed through openings in the edge of
a bent side of plate 51 and into openings provided in a
support beam 52~ The support beam 52 forms part of a support
structure for the stationary member 22~ By employing the bent
arrangement of coolant pipe consisting of seamless tubing,
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long runs of weld are not relied upon for the lntegri~y of
the cooling channel. The upper and lower r~s of the
coolant pipe essentially form the flanges of an I-beam
structure with the spacer web forming the web section. Such
a beam structure reduces deflections in the refractory. This
increases refractory life by avoiding tension stresses in the
re~ractory. The clip members 44 provide refractory support
and cooling above the upper run of the coolant tubing. Such
support is necessary for the refractory since the workpieces
must be heated to a temperature as high as 2400F. It is
essential, however~ that no water-cooled section contacts
the workpiece during heating. The clips can be made of an
alloy casting for meeting the service requirements and
successfully used since they can be attached to a water-
cooled support, i.e., web plates 38, without welding. Thus,
the present invention eliminates a requirement for welding
toge~her members made of widely-dissimilar metals. Moreover,
the clip member made from an alloy casting will no~ curl out-
wardly away from the surface of the refractory at an area which
20 it is intended to support. This eliminates pockets or sharp
corners and the entire water-cooled support structure for the
refractory is designed to eliminate corners that might other-
wise form surfaces where scale and dirt can build up. The
arrangement of coolant pipes in the refractory support reduces
heat loss in the furnace. The pipes are effectively cooled by
a reduced volume of water as compared with the volume of
coolant water required in known forms of a channel section
produced as a weldment.
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Although the invention has been shown in connecti.on
with a certain specific embodiment, it will be readily
apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in
form and arrangement of parts may be made to suit require-
ments without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invent~on
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